This recent novel by Cornwell is fairly light weight compared to her Scarpetta crime scene investigation novels. She uses the same characters as those in "At Risk," D. A. Monique Lamont, and her assistant, Win Garano.
On first meeting, I can't say that I find these two as compelling as Kay Scarpetta and her staff. Lamont is the bright, but extremely self-serving D.A. of Middlesex County, headquartered in Cambridge, MA. Win Garano is an up-and-coming investigator who's heart is often in the right place, but his head tells him that he needs to stick close to his boss to prosper. This dual nature makes Win a fairly complex character, but weak in some respects. It cuts down on the respect he commands from others, and from the readers of his story.
In this story Win is shipped off to Watertown, a smaller community in the county to work on a case. He has to work with the crime lab set up by a coalition of the smaller communities in order to rely less on the over-booked state crime lab, and the CSI in that lab, named Stump. In the process they solve a 40 year old mystery and also help to clean up some of the current wave of crime in the small community of Watertown.
This is a fast read, and, hey, it's Cornwell, so it is certainly very well written. Just wish I liked the characters better. Maybe they'll grow on me over later books.
Liz Nichols
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